I have STD heads and an aftermarket auto-advance distributor. I replaced the centrifugal advance springs this weekend in an attempt to reduce the pinging. With the heavier springs it appears my base timing has changed and I have run out of room for adjustment. So I figured I would pull the distributor and turn it a tooth to get back in the middle of my adjustment range. However, I was only able to work the distributor up about 1/8" to 1/4". The STD heads are not hitting any of the distributor and should allow adequate clearance to pull it out. Am I overlooking something or is just that my gears are meshing very tightly. I thought I remember the distributor just pulling out like an automotive distributor. Maybe I should loosen the gearcase cover and maybe that will add some play.
Any thoughts or ridicule?
Thank you,
Doug

The distributor should just pull out , even with the STD heads you may have to take the top off the dist. to pull it out all the way or enough to move one tooth.I assume you have a two bolt flange type dist. and are using a strobe type timing light to time it . Points , I assume also. Your heavy duty springs may also be keeping your mechanical adv. system from extending all the way to full adv. with centrifugal force @ RPM. and you are having to compensate with distributor adj.. If that is the case what happens when the springs weaken from use and or stretch . You may have to move the dist. back again. Some thing to think about.
When running points , I use the static method of timing and move the adv. mech. manually to set timing , so I know the are at full adv. when timed .

I do have points and the 2 bolt hold down. But for some reason the distributor does not want to pull straight out. I might try rotating the engine if I try it again. When timing with a timing light, I was unable to see the line through the clear plug even when marked with white paint. So I do a static time and advance the weights manually and then test drive and adjust as needed.

But I may have egg on my face here. Last night I got it running finally, but not tuned in yet. I gave up a midnight. Apparently after flooding out the engine on several starts I must have adjusted the slow speed down to the point that it was lean. But even a lean mixture will smell flooded when you are choking the engine and having trouble getting it started. Anyway, I had to advance the timing to get it started. The engine was coughing like it either had retarded timing or I was thinking maybe a vacuum leak had developed. Once started, I started adjusting the carb and that is when I noticed that I had set it very lean in all the fiddling around. The lean mixture would explain the trouble getting it started. It would also explain why I had to advance the timing so much to get it started. It also explains why it ran good at highway speed but was coughing at idle. The coughing made me think the timing was retarded, but a few of the kick starts had started kicking back indicating too much advance. So I zeroed everything and started over on all adjustments.
I guess that I made a common rookie mistake and adjusted too much crud at once in all of my frustration, sweat and beer and had got it way out of whack None of this still does not shed any light on why the distributor did not pull free.
Doug

If your dist still wont come out, how far up does it come before stopping on ya? I wonder if the cross pin to retain the drive gear has "walked out" some on you. If that does or can happen. Maybe try rotating the dist shaft to see if its hung up at the point your dist stops coming out. If that were to happen, the shaft would then be jammed as you pull upward on the dist. You should feel some interference if in fact that is what is going on....Joe

I was only able to move the distibutor 1/8" to 1/4" up. I may need to try to rotate the engine or the distributor shaft when pulling it. I have some more troubleshooting to do. I tried to start it briefly yesterday and it still has problems firing.
Doug

Hi Doug:;-Tell me if you can, when pulling upon the dist, does the shaft jam or feel hung up at the point of 1/8-1/4 position? If it does jam up the shaft, I'm thinking the pin is comming out sideways and you need to pull the cam cover to tap it back in a bit to clear its way on out. Just a thought from the sound of things there.......Joe

I was able to get it timed without pulling the distributor. The pin is something to keep in mind when I do pull it again. The heavier springs must be retarding the static timing. Maybe the old springs were weak. With the old springs, I had the timing at the retarded end of the adjsutment slot. With the heavier spring, I had to set the timing at the advanced end of the adjustment slot. The lighter springs must not have been fully pulling the cam back to the retarded position.
Doug

Hey Doug:- Normally. its no big deal to pull off the timing cover and you don't need to touch the lifters. If you turn the engine over so one cylinder is on power stroke and the other is top dead center when the two valves are rocking closed. Work the timing cover off carefully and with a screw driver, keep the cam in position. You will only need to remove the push rod covers on the easiest cylinder and turn it over till the exhaust valve just closes but stop before the intake starts to open. In this position, the other cylinder will be on power stroke, both (valves closed). Even with lots of overlap, those lifters will help to hold the cam from coming out with the cover. Works good for me. The cam cant drop, its sitting on the crank gear. Goes back together, no sweat, try it and get back to me....Joe

Joe, I've seen that method in the campground, when somebody's lost oil pressure and needs to check the pump shaft on an evo. But what's the big deal? take the ten minutes and remove the rods. Or maybe a guy could pull the generator and look into the gear with a small mirror to check the pin? Mike

panacea:- Theres no big deal either way you do it. You can tear out all the guts if you want to check the pin. I just mentioned the easiest way since it sounded like Doug didnt want to disturb the valve lifter settings. If they are solids, I'd recheck the settings when done but hydraulics being set by number of turns isnt critical and wouldnt really change if only the cover was re and re'd the way I have done it. The cam just sits there...Not very hi tech, that....Joe

Update: I decided to try to pull the circuit breaker again since it had begun leaking under the flange. Again when I pulled up it would stick at about 1/4" height. However, I rotated the engine and it came up. I am guessing that the drive pin may have been catching on something. Not much of the pin is sticking out and the pin and gear was not in danger of coming off. It just seemed to need rotating the engine into another position.

While I was at it I installed some stiffer springs to slow the timing advance. Will test drive tonight. Hopefully the leak is fixed with the new gasket.
Doug

Your suffering from crud! If it was the gear pin all you would had to do is turn it. You got crap on the shaft. There is nothing else that would prevent that shaft from coming out of that engine case except! Caution: If you are not running one of Cottons carb floats or being psycho analyzed by a lonely self-centered a-hole from Alaska. You canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t possible pull that distributor from that engine. Keep this in mind at all time when navigating around here.